Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is outlawed within the state namely in the areas of employment, housing, healthcare and public accommodations.

[2] Opinion polls have shown that a large majority of Rhode Islanders support same-sex marriage and LGBT rights.

[3] 2017 polling from the Public Religion Research Institute showed that 78% of Rhode Island respondents supported same-sex marriage.

[4][5] The statute "Touching Whormongers" provided the death penalty for a number of offenses including sodomy, bestiality, fornication, and rape.

In 1973, the Commission on Jurisprudence of the Future recommended amending state law to remove the sodomy provisions, but this was rejected by the Rhode Island General Assembly.

At that time, the law applied to consensual and non-consensual acts, whether between heterosexual or homosexual partners, and whether conducted in private or public.

[6] Same-sex sexual acts between consenting adults in private have been legal in Rhode Island since anti-sodomy statutes were repealed in 1998.

On February 20, 2007, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch issued an opinion holding that same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts would be recognized in Rhode Island.

Governor Gina Raimondo, who signed the bill into law, said, "No parent should have to jump through hoops to receive legal recognition because of their sexual orientation or the circumstances of their child's birth.

Rhode Island has a criminal statute covering hate crimes motivated by both sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

[32] The law provides penalty enhancements for the commission of a crime motivated by the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, among other categories.

[35] In July 2021, two bills passed the Rhode Island General Assembly regarding "pay disclosure and discrimination" within employment and repealing the archaic 1995 "housing with 3 occupiers or less loophole exemptions" - based on an individual's sexual orientation and gender identity.

[36][37][38] Moreover, the state's anti-bullying law prohibits bullying on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and mental, physical and sensory disability.

[39] In June 2018, a bill to repeal the gay and trans panic defense passed the Rhode Island General Assembly by a vote of 68–2 in the House and 27–0 in the Senate.

[49][50][51] Previously, the Rhode Island Department of Health only altered the gender designation on a person's birth certificate based on documentation of sex reassignment surgery.

In June 2018, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a bill to ensure that transgender people are correctly recorded on death certificates.

[59] A 2022 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) poll found that 80% of Rhode Island residents supported same-sex marriage, while 14% were opposed and 5% were unsure.